BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

DOT decision makes sense to me

Recently, after reviewing Iowa law and out of a desire to follow that law as written, the Iowa Department of Transportation announced that it is not legally able to issue state driver’s licenses and state IDs to undocumented immigrants. Marshall County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Sodders, a law enforcement officer who also happens to be a state senator, decried the action of Iowa DOT and said their following the law “makes no sense.”

The rationalization for Sen. Sodders position is that President Obama, the chief enforcer of federal law, made an election year declaration that a certain class of undocumented immigrants would not be prosecuted by the federal government for their illegal actions. (By the way, this is in direct conflict with the Equal Protection clause of the United States Constitution which the president is obligated by public oath to uphold.) The president went on to recognized that his declaration held no power over individual states in the enforcement of their own laws.

So why is a president considered a visionary for unconstitutionally providing special rights to a certain class of non-citizens? Meanwhile, the Iowa DOT is considered politically motivated when, as advised by the State Attorney General’s Office, it decides to act in accordance with the law as written?

One can only hope that all the fine law enforcement officers of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Marshalltown Police Department and State Highway Patrol (and Deputy Sodders) enforce the laws of the State of Iowa evenly and fairly and not cherry pick those that “make sense.”